Nas Talks “Bye Baby” Video Plans: “It’s A Human Story”

With Nas‘ Life Is Good album finally on stands, the rapper reveals the plan for his next video and explains the deeply personal nature of his new music.

“The next thing we are going to shoot is “Bye Baby,” he told CBS Local. “I want it to be right there in the center of things I’ve seen and I want to share that.”

“Bye Baby” offers a personal look into his relationship with ex-wife Kelis and the divorce that made headlines and now fuels the rapper’s song lyrics.

The track samples Guy frontman Aaron Hall’s ear-piercing vocals from the new jack swing classic “Goodbye Love.” Hall sets the tone, calling up a throwback jam, and a timeless concept of a spurned mate who is leaving the love of his life.

“Bye baby I guess you know why I walked away/ When we walked to the alter that was an awesome day/ Did counseling, couldn’t force me to stay/ Something happens when we say I do, we go astray…”

Nas says the intimate moments and soft spots on the song and in the video will surely fly over the heads of today’s younger listeners.

“What’s ill man, is this is a record that kids are going to be like, ‘I dont need this,'” he said. “We might not reach certain people. But I think we will reach the right people. I am a 38-year-old dude so I’m talking about life from that perspective. The next video you see will be based around a more advanced situatian than what you are seeing.”

The “Bye Baby” video will follow “Daughters,” which showcased Nas and his perspective as a father. The Chris Robinson-directed clip showed the proud moments and pitfalls of fatherhood. Like “Bye Baby,” the song was torn from pages in his real-life files. According to Nas, the video had to be handled with the same care as the deeply personal song, with its delicate moments.

“I know people are like, ‘Yo, I’m not trippin off your life homie,'” Nas said of his recent music. “You gatta forgive me, it’s just the way I saw this thing going down this time…So bear with me y’all, this is what it is right now.” —Erik Parker, CBS Local